BSpaceThe British University in Dubai (BUiD) Digital Repository

Welcome to BSpace, the online institutional repository of the British University in Dubai.
BSpace provides access to the Dissertations, Thesis, Research projects, Faculty publications and archives of BUiD.

The main aim of the dissertation was to examine the impact of head teachers’ instructional leadership on teachers’ professional practices. More specifically, the study was conducted to obtain an understanding on how the head teachers’ instructional leadership role may impact teaching and learning in the classroom, curriculum implementation and assessment. This study was necessary because its findings can be used by educators and stakeholders to focus more on the role of head teachers to improve the quality of teaching in classrooms. This study was conducted in UAE, Dubai and the target population was randomly selected from four primary and secondary private schools in Dubai. The sample comprised of head teachers, schools’ instructional leaders and teachers. The data was collected through sequential mixed methods. This included distribution of questionnaires among 109 teachers in the selected schools, and conducting ten interviews with head teachers and schools’ leaders. The demographic data focused on, gender, age, years of experience and professional qualifications of the participants. Descriptive statistics were used to find frequencies and percentages of responses for the 4- Likert scale questionnaires. Findings from the open ended question at the end of the questionnaire were summarized and interpreted while the ten interviews were analyzed qualitatively according to the main themes that emerged. From the findings it was revealed that head teachers as instructional schools’ leaders do play an important and a vital role in assisting and helping teachers to improve their classrooms’ instructions through supervision, feedback, encouraging teachers’ professional growth, helping with curriculum and assessments. It was also revealed that teachers believe they can perform more effectively when they have highly qualified and experienced head teachers. Additionally an obvious variation in the duties and tasks of head teachers in the four schools was revealed through the study. Head teachers’ role can be more effective when schools’ administration system support head teachers’ role and facilitate all the channels to help them achieve their duties.